A Chaotic Scene
A Chaotic Scene
"Then that settles it."
Aria clapped her hands with a sharp sound.
The one who raised the objection was Victoria, who had stayed silent until now.
"What exactly is settled?"
"Is there anything more for us to discuss? If we've established that our goals are the same, all that remains is competition. There are several of us, and only one of you, Brother."
It was a refreshingly clear-cut answer, but it rested on one crucial premise.
"No, we need to address what needs addressing."
At my words, all three of them looked at me.
I might get slapped for saying this, but I had to say it.
"First, Victoria."
"Yes, Si-hyeon. Is there a problem?"
"You're free to try to seduce me, but as long as you see me as a means to bring Aria back, it's pointless."
"Is this for Aria's sake?"
"No. I already told you. My views on romance are old-fashioned. There has to be mutual attraction for sparks to fly. How could I fall for someone who sees me as a means to an end?"
Victoria fell silent.
"Next, Han Seo-yeon."
Seo-yeon didn't answer.
Well, considering what she'd just shown, it would be impressive if words came easily to her.
"When Aria asked me not to reject her confession because of public opinion or ethical concerns, do you know why I accepted?"
I waited a moment.
Again, no answer.
But Seo-yeon was clearly staring at me, so I continued without concern.
"Aria presented a plan I could accept. About persuading our parents, about marriage. But what about you?"
"That's—"
Seo-yeon's eyes darted around.
But this wasn't a problem with an immediate answer.
"You'd have to persuade both Dad and Mom. Can you handle that? And what about the Hancheon Group on your mother's side? If the media reported that one of the heir candidates had a child through incest, it wouldn't just end quietly."
"As for the Hancheon Group, if I withdraw from the succession competition..."
"Seo-yeon."
I deliberately cut her off.
That was nonsense.
Seo-yeon withdrawing from the Hancheon Group succession and disappearing would affect even our mother.
It was impossible unless she was prepared to sever family ties entirely.
Seo-yeon was looking up at me with anxious eyes.
But I had to say what needed saying. For the sake of our future relationship, too.
"I've never even seen you as a romantic prospect."
There was no resistance.
As if hearing news she'd expected all along, Seo-yeon bit her lower lip.
"I know that. I was prepared for it from the start! Because I've been rude and arrogant all this time. I thought it was only natural if you hated me."
"That's not what this is about. You know that."
To be honest, deep down I did think of Seo-yeon as a younger sister too.
No matter how much I denied that fact, no matter how much I considered Aria my one and only sister.
As Seo-yeon said, she'd maintained an attitude toward me that left her with no defense against being hated.
And yet I'd never once gotten angry at her. Was it because I was some magnanimous saint? Absolutely not.
Deep down, in my heart of hearts, I'd acknowledged it.
Even if we'd been apart since childhood and never built up sibling affection, we were ultimately siblings who shared blood.
And precisely because of that, I'd never once seen Seo-yeon as a woman.
"Then you should have just hated me. If you had, I could have cleanly thrown away these feelings. I could have treated you as a stranger and pretended not to know you for the rest of my life."
Seo-yeon's gaze was hollow.
Her eyes were clearly directed at me, but I couldn't feel them meeting mine at all.
Only the tears falling drop by drop spoke for the remnants of feelings Seo-yeon still couldn't cast aside.
I said nothing more so that Seo-yeon could collect herself.
More than anything, there was still one more person I needed to address.
"Aria."
"Yes, Brother."
There was no playfulness in Aria's tone.
As if she already knew why she'd been called.
"I'm angry this time too. Tell me. Why did you egg Seo-yeon on?"
Even if the feelings Seo-yeon had been suppressing were a bomb destined to explode someday, the one who lit the fuse was clearly Aria.
It had been the same when they first met.
She'd openly flaunted her relationship with me in front of Seo-yeon, gotten under her skin, provoked her.
And today, she'd gone even further.
The one who exposed the feelings Seo-yeon had been hiding was none other than Aria.
During our last date, Aria had told me she felt jealousy toward Seo-yeon.
But if that feeling was simple jealousy, this was something she had even less reason to do. She could have just watched Seo-yeon lash out at me even more harshly to hide her own feelings.
Why give such an opportunity to a rival who was destroying herself anyway?
Simply to publicly humiliate her?
No.
There was no reason for that, and it wasn't in Aria's nature either.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't guess Aria's intentions.
So, like a police officer waiting for a detective's deduction, I waited for the answer Aria would give.
Finally, Aria spoke.
"From the moment I first saw her, I felt a sense of kinship. Toward Seo-yeon."
"Kinship? Not jealousy?"
"To be precise, I felt both. A kinship in having ended up harboring a love that society would consider taboo. A kinship in wondering whether I would have acted the same if our positions were reversed. And at the same time, jealousy over the fact that she receives your love as your biological younger sister."
So she'd seen herself in Seo-yeon.
But the answer to my question—why she'd provoked Seo-yeon—still hadn't come.
"Neither jealousy nor kinship answers my question."
It was the same.
If it was jealousy, there was no reason to provoke her. She'd destroy herself anyway.
Even if it was kinship, there was no reason to provoke her. Unlike Aria, who had an alternative because she was a half-sister.
Aria should have been more than capable of guessing both that Seo-yeon and I, as full siblings entangled in family issues, could never have that kind of relationship and how I regarded Seo-yeon.
But Aria denied my words.
"It is kinship. Though to put it unkindly, it's also pity."
"And that light pity pushed the situation to this point."
"Brother, how do you think I saw through Seo-yeon's feelings from our very first meeting?"
Aria posed the question to me.
I had a few guesses.
"Because you're both women. Or because you're both younger sisters who love their older brother?"
"Not a wrong answer, but not the right one either. The correct answer is this."
Aria pointed at her own eyes with her index finger.
"Eyes?"
"Yes. You may not have noticed, Brother, but affection was practically dripping from the gaze she directed at you."
I couldn't easily accept that.
To me, Seo-yeon's gaze had always felt sharp and venomous.
But by that logic, my own claim wasn't much different. So I had nothing to say.
"Brother, it was going to burst someday. I think it's better this way than letting it fester until it exploded."
If what Aria and Seo-yeon said was true, the situation had already festered plenty.
In fact, even now Seo-yeon was sobbing with her face buried in her hands like a doll with its strings cut. If she'd held it in even longer before bursting, something might have gone seriously wrong.
"And one more thing—I believe Seo-yeon had to confess her feelings herself."
"Why?"
"Because if she never said it, she couldn't even stand at the starting line. I can guarantee it. Regretting after trying is far better than regretting without ever having tried."
"Normally, that would be true. But not in this case."
If Seo-yeon confessed her feelings to me, no matter the outcome, it would end in catastrophe.
Seriously, I was certain that experiencing the pain of rejection like this was the best possible ending for Seo-yeon.
But Aria shook her head.
"It's no different. Because I went through the same thing. Every night I agonized over whether it was right to tell you my feelings, whether I'd only make things difficult for you. But I could be certain of one thing. Even if I was rejected, nothing would ever begin if I didn't convey my feelings."
"It's different. It has to be different. Seo-yeon and I are full siblings. And the Hancheon Group is involved on top of that. How can you put this on the same level?"
"You can. Because what matters is spending time together and sharing your hearts."
Aria didn't back down.
At those words, even Seo-yeon lifted her head and looked at Aria.
"I told you before, didn't I? Even if I'd been your biological younger sister, I would have fallen in love with you.
"What matters is that we're in love with each other. Marriage is only one of the fruits of that love.
"I'm sure Seo-yeon feels the same way. And if that's the case, that's all the more reason she had to tell you how she feels."
She had indeed said that during our last date.
So from the beginning, whether marriage was possible hadn't mattered much to her.
"Fine. At least I understand why you provoked Seo-yeon. But then conversely, did you never consider that I might suddenly lose my mind and accept Seo-yeon's confession?"
"I did. And I decided it would be all right."
"Because you're certain I'd choose you?"
"I have confidence, but not certainty. If that happened, of course I'd be jealous and sad. I'd try to win back your love, too.
"But your happiness matters more to me than anything. If the person you chose after careful consideration was Seo-yeon, I could support that."
From the very beginning, what mattered most to Aria was my happiness.
That was why, from her first confession, she'd said it was fine to reject her if I had another partner.
"Aren't you pushing a cruel role onto me?"
Victoria, for whom I had no strong feelings yet, was one thing—but in Seo-yeon's case, honestly, even as I pushed her away, my heart was heavy.
But Aria set aside her serious expression and spoke with her usual smile.
"Didn't I say? Your happiness comes first. If you're prepared to ignore public opinion, I wouldn't mind if you chose both me and Seo-yeon, Brother."
"..."
At Aria's shocking statement, not only I but even Victoria—who had been calmly watching us while drinking her coffee—stared at Aria with her mouth hanging open.
"Aria, have you finally lost your mind?"
"Yes. Otherwise, would I ever have wanted to be with my own blood-related brother? To the point of being prepared to throw away my status and reputation?"
Aria answered with brazen shamelessness.
Even I was dumbfounded enough to retort this time.
"No, no matter what, two-timing is..."
"Two-timing? If we're all happy and in agreement, that's not two-timing."
I-is that so?
Well, in the eyes of society, consensual polygamy probably did look better than incest.
The problem was that in this case, it was both.
"From the moment I resolved myself to incestuous love, I decided not to care about public opinion anyway. So if we're happy, isn't that enough?"
"Aria..."
Seo-yeon was now looking at Aria as if genuinely moved. Meanwhile, my head was starting to throb at this insane situation.
"If it ended with just public opinion, maybe, but Seo-yeon is a Hancheon Group heir candidate. The problems are far from trivial."
"That's something Seo-yeon has to solve herself, just as I presented you with an alternative. I'm prepared to give up the reputation and career I've built for love. Shouldn't Seo-yeon be prepared to do the same?"
"Prepared..."
Seo-yeon murmured.
Feeling that things would become impossible to manage if this continued, I deliberately tapped the table lightly to draw attention.
"Let's stop here for today."
"Is it all right to end it like this? It seems nothing has been resolved yet."
Victoria's point was valid.
But this was a matter where resolving it immediately would cause even bigger problems.
"It's fine. Everyone needs time to sort out their thoughts anyway. Even if you suddenly tell me I can choose multiple people, I'm not mentally prepared for that either."
This wasn't something I could make a decision about lightly.
Victoria seemed to accept this and was the first to rise from her seat.
"Then it seems the conversation is over, so I'll take my leave. Oh, Aria. May I ask one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"If I can make Si-hyeon truly fall for me, you'd accept that outcome too, wouldn't you?"
"Of course. If you can manage it."
At Aria's calm declaration, Victoria smiled with satisfaction and turned away.
"That alone is enough for today. Goodbye, then."
Victoria left, and only Aria, Seo-yeon, and I remained.
After a little more time passed, Seo-yeon composed herself, straightened her expression, and spoke to me.
"Big brother. So, can we still call ourselves siblings now?"
"If that's what you want."
If Seo-yeon had wanted a sibling relationship from the start, we probably would have gotten along much better than we had up to that point. From my perspective, there was no reason to push her away.
Seo-yeon rose from her seat with a much more relieved expression.
"Then for now, I'll be satisfied with being siblings. And I want to start over with you from the beginning, building our relationship and memories one by one."
"Sure. I can do that much."
If it was a sibling relationship, we could always return to it.
The lost years wouldn't come back, but there was still plenty of time left to spend together.
If she wanted to build something, it was entirely possible.
"And someday, I'll confess to you again. So that you'll look back at me."
"So you're not giving up."
"No, hearing Aria made me certain. Even if you reject me, I can't live my whole life lying about these feelings. So at the very least, I want to try my best."
I couldn't bring myself to tell her not to.
Before leaving, Seo-yeon looked at me and said,
"I'll look for a way to handle the Hancheon Group issue with as few problems as possible.
"So at least let me stand at the same starting line as Aria. Give me your answer based on how you feel. If I do my best and you still don't look my way, then I'll give up for good."
With those words, Seo-yeon left.
Now only Aria and I remained in the café.
Our cups had long been empty.
I stirred the nearly melted ice with my straw, then rose from my seat.
"Let's go home too."
"Yes, Brother."
We left the café.
Perhaps because it was the season for spring rain, the sky was full of dark clouds.
Today, the way home felt especially long.